Invisibility Cloak for Surface Waves Developed

For millennia humanity has fantasized about the ability to become invisible, but only relatively recent advances in science are actually making it possible. Typically these efforts are focused on hiding from free space waves, but in many practical applications surface waves also need to be considered. To that end, researchers at Queen Mary University of London have found a way to hide a curved surface from surface waves.

This new cloak works by depositing a nanocomposite medium onto the subject surface. This medium consisted of seven layers, making the material a graded index nanocomposite, and the electric properties of each layer depend on their positions. The result is to prevent the incoming surface waves from noticing the curves on the surface, and instead continue moving as though the surface were flat.

While this discovery will not directly lead to any ability to cloak a person, it could be used to enhance antennas, by allowing them to take on different shapes and sizes. It can also allow antennas to be attached in weird places and to a wide variety of materials. The potential for this discovery is greater than just better antennas though, as it could be applied to work with other phenomena that can also be described as waves.